The program, lauded by Gov. Deval L. Patrick as a pathway out of homelessness for families with young children, opened the floodgates for applicants but stranded many of them at area motels-turned-shelters.

Records provided by the state Office of Housing and Community Development show annual payments to more than a dozen motels from Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, West Springfield, Westfield and beyond peaked in 2012. The state dished out $11.6 million to a dozen motels in 2011 and $17 million to 10 motels in 2012, according to the state (see a summary of the payments in the document embedded at the end of this story).

Since 2009, Massachusetts taxpayers have paid nearly $56 million to hotels housing homeless families in Western Massachusetts. The state furnished the information in response to a public records request by MassLive/The Republican.

The records show that prior to 2011, the state paid area hotels $6.1 million in 2009 and $6.3 million in 2010. In 2013, the payments locally began falling from a historic high to $10.7 million in 2013 and $4.1 million in 2014.

The motels have come under fire from tenants, and the state has been assailed by elected officials for the swelling numbers of homeless being warehoused there. State housing officials have repeatedly said they are working hard to move the numbers of homeless out of motels.

"We believe that hotels and motels are not the best places for our emergency assistance families, which is why we're executing a comprehensive strategy to reduce the use of hotels and motels and rehouse families back into their communities as quickly as possible," said Matthew Sheaff, communications director for the state housing agency.

"Since December, the Department of Housing and Community Development has been able to reduce the use of hotels and motels as emergency shelter by 15 percent in Western Massachusetts. By law, however, we are required to place eligible families the same day they apply for assistance and sometimes a hotel or motel is our only option."

After the launch of the HomeBASE program, the program ran out of $40 million in seed money within weeks of opening the rolls amid a dismal economy. The state has since tightened up its eligibility criteria but the numbers of families in need of emergency housing have not abated.

The annual payments provided to The Republican show three Chicopee hotels have received the highest payments in the region: a collective $20.5 million since 2009. Those are the Days Inn, Econo Lodge and Quality Inn.